Background: Intimal hyperplasia is the most common delayed response to angioplasty. The use of cobalt-chromium stents is well studied in the coronary circulation; however, there are few studies on their use in the carotid and peripheral circulation. Objective: To analyze the intimal reaction in a swine carotid artery undergoing simple angioplasty and angioplasty followed by implantation of cobalt-chromium stent. Materials and methods: We carried out angioplasty in the right common carotid artery and angioplasty with cobalt-chromium stent in the left common carotid artery in eight swine. Four weeks later, all animals were sacrificed for arterial tissue sampling and preparation of histological slides. Slide images were scanned and analyzed using a digital morphometry program. Statistical analysis was performed by mean values and standard deviations of the areas in each group, using the Student's t test. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Angioplasty with cobalt-chromium stent implantation resulted in a higher degree of hyperplasia compared with simple angioplasty. The difference was statistically significant when the lumen area, the internal elastic lamina area, and the external elastic lamina area were compared between the two groups. No statistically significant difference was found when the media layers of both groups were compared. Conclusion: Cobalt-chromium stent implantation resulted in more intimal hyperplasia than simple angioplasty, however the stent was not enough to reduce the arterial lumen.
Angioplasty; stents; swine
